_On the next day we were questioned by Mr. Flynn. Salsedo said that
he had printed the leaflet in May 1919; that I had nothing to do with
it; that it had been ordered by one Recchi. I stated that I had seen
Salsedo printing it, but had nothing to do with it...._
_After that we were not formally questioned any more and we were very
well treated. A room was fitted up for us with two beds. We had good
meals; we were taken out for walks; once we were taken to the movies.
When any one asked me if I was content or if I was willing to stay at
the Department of Justice I always said “Yes,” because I did not want
to go to prison and I thought that all depended upon the good will of
the agents...._
_Mr. Donato came to see us frequently. So did Salsedo’s wife, who
sought to tranquillize him. But Salsedo was always despondent and in
fear. He would say, “We who are innocent, are in jail. Maybe those
who are guilty are out there in freedom.” I would tell him that we
would be free, but he did not believe it. He would lie groaning and
lamenting all the night. He complained continually of pains in his
stomach and head. He was always nervous. He refused absolutely to
eat. He showed clear signs of an unbalancing mind...._
_On the evening of Sunday, May 2nd, Salsedo walked a little with me
in the corridor as was our custom. He went to bed about nine o’clock.
Then I sat with the Department of Justice agents who were smoking
and telling stories. About eleven o’clock I came into our room with
Palmera the interpreter. Salsedo begged me to turn off the light; he
said “I have a terrible headache. That cigarette you gave me hurt
me.”_
_I went to bed. For a long time I heard Salsedo groaning and
lamenting. Then I fell asleep. I know nothing more until I was
awakened by the watchman who came to call us every morning between
five and six o’clock so that we should be up before the cleaning
women came to the offices. I said “Is it not early?” He answered,
“Your comrade is dead. He has jumped from the window.”_
To the anarchist groups of New York, New Jersey, and New England the
detention of Elia and Salsedo was ominous. Tresca, who had succeeded
the deported Galleani as leader, consulted with Donato, but was
unable to see the men. He suspected the lawyer of back-hand dealings
with the Department of Justice.
On Sunday afternoon, April 25, fifteen or twenty of the East Boston
anarchists, meeting in their hall overlooking the docks, discussed
what they could do for Elia and Salsedo. Sacco, Vanzetti, and
Orciani were present. Ever since they had learned of their comrades’
mysterious detention these men had been raising money and sending it
on without, however, knowing just where it was going. Somebody from
Boston, they now decided, must go to New York and find out what
was happening. Vanzetti, being self-employed and having no family
responsibilities, was chosen. He left that evening on the train.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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